You hurry through the grounder camp thankful that they are used to you by now. Some of the warriors throw glances your way but they no longer waste glares on you. Worry chews at the back of your mind. Lexa has requested you in her tent and you don't know if news has come regarding the mountain or if… You shake your head at the absurd thought. A pretty woman looks your way and you can't get her out of your mind. You stop at the front of the tent. Taking a deep breath and running your fingers through your blonde hair you push the flaps to the side and enter.
The brunette is at the war table glancing over the map. Part of you knows it is just to look busy to anybody that comes in. You stand waiting for her to say what she called you for but the woman stays quiet. Walking to her side you mimic her looking over the map. Nothing has changed. Sighing, you turn your back to the table and lean against it taking the time to try to study the commander's face. Your eyes follow her jawline up and over her cheeks, stopping at forest eyes for a second to try to catch any emotion, then continuing down her nose to her soft lips. Your breath catches when you realise her bottom lip is caught by her teeth. You look away quickly when you notice her head turning towards you. Hoping she doesn't notice the blush you can feel on your cheeks you look around the room.
"How is the chancellor?" Lexa asks non committedly. You look at her questioning. Her face still reveals nothing of her reason for summoning you.
"Alright. My mother and Kane are both healing well. They should both make a full recovery." You reply. Lexa nods and swallows. Her eyes glance around the tent. You watch her even more curious. The commander looks almost nervous. She opens her mouth to speak again when the ground lurches and trembles beneath you. You grab the table startled as items rattle in the tent. As suddenly as it comes the shaking stops, only strings swinging being proof of what happened. Your heart slows quickly after you realize it was just an earthquake and you let out a small chuckle at how silly you must have looked being so startled.
"What were yo-" The sentence stops in your mouth when you look back at Lexa. The brunette is hunched over the table, her knuckles white from how hard she is gripping the edges. Her chest heaves with quick breaths. You rush closer and rest a hand on her back. "Lexa? What's wrong?"
Shaking her head and squeezing her eyes shut the commander refuses to answer. Glancing back and forth between her closed eyes you start to try again but another series of trembles interrupts you. Lexa's nails dig into the wood of the support and you swear you hear a whimper come from the woman's throat. Your heart clenches at the sound. You put your hand on top of hers. The earthquake passes again and the woman lets out a shaking breath, almost panting from how hard she is breathing.
"Hey, hey." You whisper. You try to turn the warrior towards you and move your face in front of hers. Cupping her cheek carefully you try to coax the green eyes to open again. "Lexa look at me. It was just a small earthquake. Everything is okay. You've probably seen quite a few in your life, yeah? Just like those everything is okay."
Her eyes open slowly meeting your own and your heart breaks at the fear in the normally stoic orbs. You smile softly trying to comfort the other woman. She shakes her shake again and looks away from you. Breaking out of your weak hold she walks away, her legs shaking slightly. Watching her with worry you scrounge your brain to find something else to say, but Lexa takes a deep breath and quietly speaks.
"The last time the earth shook was after my conclave. When I became the commander." Lexa shakes her head and runs her fingers over the hilt of her dagger. "The people celebrated. They viewed it as the earth approving of the new commander. That it was purring like a mother panther to her kits." The woman grows quiet again. You walk to her side again, watching her carefully.
"You don't see it like that?" You question softly. She shakes her head. Green eyes filled with sadness look at you.
"I have done terrible things to become Heda and I have had to make terrible choices because of my position. I never wanted to be Heda, but it was my responsibility. It is my responsibility." Tears well up in the woman's eyes and you see anger creep into them. "The earth was shaking out of anger. I am sure of it. I am weak. I let my emotions control me more than I should. The earth knew it the day I completed my conclave and now it is reminding me of it. Being Heda is not a privilege like most believe. It is a curse!" You grab one of her hands quickly and the brunette freezes. Rubbing circles into her palm slowly you meet her eyes again. Lexa swallows and looks away whispering "I am cursed." You shake your head quickly.
"You are not cursed, Lexa. You are revolutionary." She looks back quickly and you keep her gaze. "The clans would still be at war if you had not become Heda and united them. My people would have been slaughtered and you would have no hope to get your people out of the mountain and to end their reign of terror on these lands. You are change, Lexa. Times are changing and they needed a Heda that could change with it." You grow quiet and look down at your hands still massaging small circles in her palms. "I believe the earth was purring too. Like a mother panther watching her kits learn to walk. And I believe just now it was purring congratulating her kits on their first kill." You meet Lexa's wide eyes and smile, happy to see the tears gone from them. "You're going to grow into a strong panther, Lexa. And the mother will continue purring to remind you of your achievements."
The commander gapes at you and you take pride in making the woman speechless. Raising one hand you brush a stray hair out of the woman's face, resting your palm on her cheek you stare firmly into her eyes.
"Feel better?" Lexa nods, swallowing, and you smile more. "Good. Stay strong, Panther." You squeeze her hand one more time before letting go and heading out of the tent, only remembering on your way back to Camp Jaha that Lexa had never told you what she had requested you for.
A/N Inspired by Sleeping at Last's song Earth. Honestly, I feel a lot of their songs go well with Clarke and Lexa's relationship. Comments are always appreciated :)